Banh Mi Style Burger

When anyone asks me where else in the world would I consider living, my answer is always immediately Vietnam. I ADORED Vietnam! Every inch of it, the people, the landscape, the culture, the food......!!!!!!!! I have pretty much seen a big chunk of the world in my backpacking days and Vietnam beats every country, no questions asked, especially when it comes to the food!! Spectacular is an understatement!!

We loved Vietnam so much that when we were reaching the maximum stay in the country of 30 days, we panicked and immediately when to a travel agents to pay a crazy amount of money for an extension to our visa to stay longer. Even one or two bad experiences during the 5-6 week stay in Vietnam wouldn't deter us (a brief mugging;  stranded in a train on side of a cliff during a typhoon for 3 days; extreme mosquito mauling - all of which was character building).

The food is sublime, the street food, the Pho, the Bia Hoi (fresh beer), and my ultimate favourite the spring rolls (both deep fried and fresh alike). One of the most popular street food in Vietnam is Banh Mi. This is basically a spicy marinated pork (think ginger, chilli, garlic, Lemongrass) lime, fresh herbs, vegetable pickle, and a punchy dipping sauce; all enveloped in crusty baguette the Vietnamese are now as famous as France for. These are for sale on most street corners in Vietnam from food hawkers. On our journeys on the road  with the Easy Riders (look them up) we saw a few stationed in long stretches of highways also. They always drew a crowd.

(Me and Jung, my Easy Rider, in Dalat, Vietnam, Oct 2007)

Here is a quick Friday Night Burger Night homage to the humble Banh Mi! The burst of freshness cannot be replicated in any other nations' burgers! You need to try it to see what I mean!

Ingredients

Burgers

• 500g of Irish Quality Assured Pork Mince
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbsp of chopped and deseeded red chili
• 1 tbsp of chopped lemongrass
• 1 egg
• Zest of a lime
• Juice of 1/4 of lime
• 3 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• 1 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1 grated onion

Carrot Pickle

• 1 grated carrot
• 1 tbsp of white vinegar
• 1 tbsp of caster sugar

Chili Mayo

• 2 tbsp of chili sauce
• 5 tbsp of mayo

Homemade French Fries

• 2 rooster potatoes, cut into thin chips
• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 tbsp of Chinese 5 spice powder

To Serve

• Burger Buns (I'm using Slimbos to keep the Carbs low)
• Extra lime wedges
• Extra fresh coriander and some fresh mint leaves.

Method

1. Combine all the burger ingredients in a non metallic bowl and stir very well to ensure mixed through.
2. Line a baking tray with parchment.
3. Wet your hands and shape 5-6 burger patties into your hands and lay them on the tray.
4. Put in the fridge to firm up for at least 30 minutes.
5. To make the carrot pickle, simply combine the 3 ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 
6. Likewise with the chili mayo, stir both ingredients together and set aside.
7. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Add the potato chips, the oil,and 5-spice to a bowl. Stir thoroughly.
8. Lay the chips out on a single layer in a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes.
9. Preheat a griddle pan and gently fry the burgers for 7 minutes a side. I usually finish them off in the oven for 3-4 minutes at the end. I also add the burger buns to toast in the oven at this stage too.
10. So the burgers won't be too wet, I drain the carrot pickle of liquid by putting it in the middle of 2 sheets of kitchen paper and squeezing out the excess liquid over a sink.
11. To plate up, spread some of the mayo on the burger bun, top with the burger, followed by the fresh herbs and carrot pickle. Finally top with the other burger bun spread generously with chili mayo. The only problem is trying to eat with dignity. NAPKINS OBLIGATORY!
12. Serve with chips and extra lime wedges.

This is my ultimate burger and if you try it you will see why. It's the most flavorsome burger out there whilst staying relatively healthy in comparison to it's burger counterparts.

Tip: Wrap the leftover uncooked burgers in parchment paper and then place in a freezer bag. Will keep well in the freezer for 2 months

Shepards Pie Gratin - My Back to School Special

I can hardly believe that yet another summer is over and the kids are back to school already. I feel cheated out of a sun shining heatwave this year, but we usually get a final blast of sun when the kids go back; so basically I was looking forward to the schools reopening.

Growing up Shepard pie was a weekly staple in our house, indeed probably in every house in Ireland. I don't think that has changed since I was going to school. In fact I make Shepard pie regularly now that my little girl has started to eat the same dinners as ourselves
.
I blogged my favourite recipe for Shepard pie a couple of years back and this is still my 'Go-to' recipe for Shepard's pie and the same recipe I used to make the gratin.
 Here's the link to that blog post, but the recipe is almost identical below, except for the potatoes part.  My Childhood Shepards Pie.

As I make this recipe regularly, I just wanted to give an old classic a new little twist. I decided to slice the pototoes thinly and use the meat sauce filling in the form of a gratin for a change. It might be just something different to give the kids when they come home some evening from one of their first days back at school next week.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• ·         1 lb lamb mince
• ·         1 onion, diced
• ·         10 mushrooms, sliced
• ·         3 carrots, parboiled
• ·         6 large potatoes, sliced very thinly
• ·         200ml of beef stock cube
• ·         5 splashes of Worchester sauce
• ·         1 tbsp of tomato puree
• ·         1 tbsp of tomato ketchup
• ·         20g of real Irish butter
• ·         Salt and white pepper

Method

1. Put a pan of potatoes in cold salted water and boil for 4 - 5 minutes, then drain and cool.
2. Put the peeled, diced carrots in another pan and boil for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside.
3.  In a frying pan, fry off the mince then add the diced onion and fry for 3 minutes
4. Add the tomato puree, ketchup and most of the stock into the pan and simmer.
5. Add the mushrooms and carrots and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, adding more stock if necessary
6. Add frozen peas to the mince mixture and let them thaw for a minute or so.
7. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
8. Grease a baking dish, and line with a layer of sliced potatoes.
9. Then cover with some of the meat sauce and add another layer of sliced potatoes. Season the potato layers as you go. Layer up with the rest of the meat sauce and cover with a final layer of potatoes.
10.  Season and grate some butter over the potatoes. 
11. At this point I would top with grated cheese, but both my husband and daughter have a huge dislike for cheese so I left it out of this recipe.
12. Finally, bake in the oven for 25 minutes; until the top is golden and crisp.

The only way in my opinion is to serve this with baked beans and brown sauce. It's one of the most comforting meals I know. 

Tip: Use steak mince or turkey mince in place of lamb mince if preferred. Also I love potato skins so I left my skins on (the most nutritious part of the potato don't you know!!!)

Healthy Meatloaf & Low Fat Tomato Sauce

I'm a huge believer in making meals from scratch rather than buying convenient prepacked jars/sauces and ready meals. It eliminates the risk of consuming artificial additives and sugars; plus homemade is always best; its tastier, healthier and  fresh. These days it can be difficult to know what's exactly in ready made food we buy. With all this in mind, it's a wonder at all why one would buy ready made meals at all.

This meat loaf is made with extra lean steak mince meat from my local butchers, ensuring a healthy, high quality meat. 

The tomato sauce I've made to accompany the meatloaf, is simple to make and extremely low fat with no butter or cream in sight. It's a great basic tomato sauce recipe to have, as it goes well with pasta and fish and is a great pizza base. Plus did I mention it has almost zero calories. 

The meatloaf freezes well also, once frozen and defrosted correctly, meaning freeze it completely cool in an airtight container and defrost in the fridge overnight within 3 months.

Ingredients

Meatloaf

• 500g of extra lean steak mince
• 1 large egg
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 2 carrots (grated)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 6-7 leaves of sage
• 2 slices of wholemeal brown bread
• 3 tbsp of worchester sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp of olive oil.

Tomato Sauce

• 6 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste/puree
• 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 6 basil leaves, finely shredded

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees
2. Add all the meatloaf ingredients to a food processor and blitz until well combined
3. Rub the olive oil into a loaf tin and transfer the meatloaf mixture to the tin
4. Place the tin in oven proof dish and fill the oven proof dish half way up with water (bain marie)
5. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes cover the meatloaf with tin foil to prevent it burning and bake for a further 25-30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic for the tomato sauce on a medium heat with the tsp of olive oil. Add the oregano and puree and continue to saute.
7. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Add the salt, pepper and red wine vinegar and allow the tomatoes to cook down to a 'mushy' consistency.
8. Pour the tomato mixture into a jug and blitz with a hand held blender.
9. Return to the pan. The sauce should have a smooth consistency now.
10. Add the shredded basil and more pepper if necessary.
11. To plate up, remove the meatloaf from the oven and take it out of the loaf tin. Allow it tot rest for a few minutes below cutting it into slices. Place the tomato sauce in the centre of a plate and top with 2 slices of meatloaf per person.

Serving Suggestion: Garden Peas and garlic and rosemary roast potatoes

Low Fat Morrocan Inspired Meatballs & Couscous

Yes I do realise that its been FOREVER since I blogged, but the business has got me kept!! Business is good, can't complain, lots of lovely guests from all different and interesting backgrounds!!! This has resulted in putting the blogging on the back burner!!! Seriously though guys, each day I look at the clock and its evening time again!!! Time has yet again escaped me and my blog writing!!! Each day I promise to finish that sushi blog or  a blog about how the B&B is going! Writers block has seemingly affected me on those grounds, but in a return to tradition, over the weekend I cooked a really low fat morrocan inspired pickn'mix dinner!!!

It was very low in fat, yet I felt it was satisfying and felt like a 'treat dinner' all the same.  My meatballs are (as always) made from turkey meat, keeping the fat down and the protein high!!! The other 'pick n mix' options are salads, cous cous, and a yogurt sauce!!!

Serves 3-4 people


Apricot & Cumin Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients

• 400g turkey mince
• 2 crusts of bread (whizzed to breadcrumbs) - any leftover bread will do
• 1 egg
• salt/pepper
• 1/2 red onion
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 5 dried apricots
• 1 clove of garlic, diced
• 4 tbsp of chopped coriander

Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz until combined
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
3. Place a sheet of baking paper on a tray
4. With damp hands roll balls of the mince mixture between your hand (I use an icecream scoop to measure the quantity)
5. Place all the meatballs on the tray and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, turning once.

Carrot & Coriander Salad

This doesn't require instructions really, simple strip a carrot with a vegetable peeler, and sprinkle chopped coriander over the strips and drizzle with lemon juice. Fast, and yum! (zero calorie points)

Saffron Almond & Chickpea Couscous Salad

Ingredients

• 100g of cous cous
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of ground cumin
• salt/pepper
• 115 ml of boiling water mixed with 2-3 strands of saffron
• 1 tin of chickpeas (washed and drained)
• 40g of toasted flaked almonds
• Lemon Juice from one lemon
• Chopped coriander and/or flat leaf parsley

1. Place the cous cous grains in a bowl, and rub in the cumin, juice from half a lemon, salt, pepper, oil and ground cumin
2. Add the hot saffron water, cover the bowl and leave for 15 minutes
3. When the cous cous has soaked up all the water, fluff up the grains with a fork (don't use a spoon)
4. Add the remainder ingredients and stir to combine well.

Quick Yogurt Sauce

Blitz 100 mls of natural yogurt, with 3 tbsp of fresh coriander, juice from a lemon and season with salt and pepper. This sauce is a great quick accompaniment to the meatballs. You may wish to include some pitta breads or flat bread with this dinner!!!!

Low Fat Spicy Meatballs

These low fat meatballs are made from very lean and nutritious turkey mince, making the meatballs extremely low fat and very high in protein. To make the meatballs really flavoursome and to give them a bit of a kick, dried oregano and chilli are added to the mixture. These flavours can be substituted to whatever tastes you wish. You may wish to give an oriental flare to them by adding ginger and five spice, our give them a middle eastern kick by adding harrisa perhaps.

The meatballs are quite versatile and if you cook a big batch, they are great for freezing also.

Meatballs always have a comforting quality that perhaps dieters might normally steer clear of, but by using turkey mince instead, and by baking the balls in the oven, then finishing them off in a zero fat fiery tomato sauce, nobody should feel deprived. In fact the freshness and lightness of this dish, in comparison to heavier meatballs made from red meat and breadcrumbs and heavy cream-laden sauces, is a great welcomed alternative both  the tastebuds and the waist line will appreciate.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 300g Turkey mince
• 2 tsp Dried oregano
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, diced

Lot Fat Fiery Tomato Sauce

• 6 chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 red chilli, deseeded and diced
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 8 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• basil leaves to garnish

Serve with pasta

Method

1. Place the meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Wet you hands and with the help of a teaspoon to measure, mould the meatballs into little balls (roughly the same size)
3. Place the meatballs on a lined baking sheet.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, to make the sauce, place a pan on a medium heat. Add the oil and saute the onion, garlic and chilli for 4-5 minutes. Add the mushroom sliced and saute for a further 2 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and puree and  cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add 2-3 tbsp of water and the balsamic vinegar. Stir well and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Add more water if it needs it.
8. Place the cooked meatballs in the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Be careful that the meatballs don't break up, so gently fold into the sauce.
9. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions and add the shredded fresh basil.

Low Fat Shepherd's Pie

Why is it that all comfort is laden with calories. You wouldn’t call a salad or vegetable stir fry comfort food would you!?!

No, the essence of comfort food for me is something you eat when you are feeling melancholy or sentimental. It’s food that gives me a sense of wellbeing, and perhaps a visit down memory lane. Sometimes making something ‘just how mom would make it’ brings loads of fond childhood memories flooding back.

My Top 10 Comfort Foods

1. Shepherds’ Pie
2. Lasagna
3. Roast chicken &  gravy
4. Beans on Toast
5. Bangers and mash
6. Vanilla Ice-cream
7. Buttery Toast
8. Big Bowl of Pasta & cheese
9. Chilli con carne
10. Cheese on Toast

Just because you are watching what you eat, doesn’t mean you have to ban all the comfort food we grew up on, and ban the food you need for a little boost on days that you are down, or simply on cold rainy days.

With 3 weddings just around the corner, I really need to get my act together and start living on salads and stir fries, but it’s easier said than done with the coldest wettest summer yet. All I want when I get home in the evenings these days, is either a big bowl of pasta or some creamy mash potatoes. So I’ve decided that I can have those things, I just need to make them the low fat way. So first things first, my skinny twist on a classic Shepherds pie recipe….. Shepherd’s pie was a staple in our house growing up, it was very cheap to make, and it froze well. Classic shepherds Pie is made with creamy mash potatoes and mince beef/lamb. This skinny version will have mash sweet potato and parsnip as the topping and I’m using turkey mince for the filling, but I’m enriching it with tomatoes and tomato puree and chopped herbs, using Italian flavours, keeping this dish really yummy. You won’t find any cheese in this recipe, or cream or butter for that matter.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 400g Turkey Mince
• Tin of chopped Tomatoes
• Garlic Clove, crushed
• Onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tsp of chopped rosemary
• 1 tbsp of thyme leaves
• 10 mushrooms, finely diced
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 2 parsnips, diced
• 3 sweet potatoes, diced.
• Salt and pepper
• Worchester sauce
• Low Cal Olive Oil
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Pinch of sugar

Method

1. Large frying pan or work, fry off the turkey mince until its completely cooked through.
2. Add the tomato puree, herbs, garlic and onion and fry for a further few minutes.
3. Add the chopped carrots and mushrooms and continue to stir around.
4. Add a pinch of sugar, a 5-6 drops of Worchester sauce and the tin of tomatoes, reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes to let the sauce.
5. Meanwhile, get a pan of water on the boil, add the chopped sweet potato and parsnips and one of the chopped carrot, and boil for 10 minutes
6. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees
7. Once the potato,parsnips, and carrot are cooked, drain and allow the steam to escape from them to dry them out a bit.
8. To create your mash topping, add 1 tsp of olive oil to the vegetables and salt and pepper, and mash with a masher until you have a smooth consistency.
9. In a baking dish, add the mince mixture and top with the sweet potato/parsnip mash. Spritz the top of the mash with a low cal olive oil spray if you like.
10. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
11. Serve with a leafy green such as cabbage/kale or spinach, or broccoli.

Now how healthy is that! This recipe keeps well for the following day cooked, cooled and in an airtight container.

Low Fat Bolognese

My love for pasta continues with this low fat Bolognese recipe. With the Cork City Marathon coming up this weekend, I really am upping the carbs, not that I’m doing a full marathon, just a 5.2 mile leg, you’d swear I was running the full marathon the way I’ve been babbling on about it for months training. Anywho, as I said, this week it’s all about the carbs, but I want to be smart about it and keep the meals tasty and low in fat. What better way to combine the need for carbs and lean protein than to have pasta bolognese using turkey mince. I actually use this basic recipe for turkey mince for my Bolognese sauce and it can be adapted to suit after that.You can use it in a pasta bake, just have regular Bolognese with spaghetti, or for those spuds lovers out there, make a shepherds’ pie with an Italian twist…….or you can also leave out the thyme and balsamic vinegar and add ground cumin, coriander , brown sugar and kidney beans at the end to make a low fat chilli con carne served with rice or potato wedges……..See the possibilities know no bounds.  Anyways, on with the show!!

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• Turkey mince
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 1 diced onion
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and diced
• 2 stalks of chopped celery
• 3 diced carrots
• 7-8 sliced mushrooms
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp Worchester sauce
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• Pasta of your choice
• Shredded basil leaves

Method

1. In a large frying pan/wok add the oil and fry the mince breaking it up as you fry.
2. When the mince is nicely browned, transfer to a plate and keep warm
3. Add the garlic, onions, chilli, celery and carrots and thyme leaves to the pan along with a pinch of salt to stop them colouring, sauté for 5 minutes
4. Add the mince back to the pan and add the tomato puree, combining everything well
5. Then add the tinned tomatoes, and fill the empty can 1/3 with water and add that as well. Add the sugar also to take the acidity out of the tomatoes.
6. Add the balsamic and Worchester sauce, bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for an hour if you have the time for the mince to tenderise and absorb the flavours.
7. Add some shredded basil and the salt and pepper.

8. At this point, I made a pasta bake for myself. So I cooked 60g of pasta, drained it and added it to an oven proof dish with 1/3 of the Bolognese mixture and I put it in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 15-20 for the top to brown. Something happens when pasta is baked. It’s a deeper flavour, which I love. Cheese could have been added, but this is a low fat recipe. Add chopped basil at the end.

9. For the rest of the Bolognese, when Alan got home from work, I just heated the mince up in the pan and cooked some fresh tagiatelli, drained it and topped with the mince, for some Tag. Bol.

Serena's Medium Rare: Thai Fragrant Turkey Balls

Serena's Medium Rare: Thai Fragrant Turkey Balls: "Since travelling South East Asia, I have developed a love for the sweet, salty, spicy, sour combination of flavours. I came up with this re..."